Antwerp, Belgium

From Paris, we stopped in Brussels only long enough to change trains and come to Antwerp. We were here on the recommendation of the Geisens' neighbor in Gaeta, who had related stories to us about Antwerp's pub culture. That was all the convincing we beer aficionados needed.

Antwerp is, naturally, a city on a much smaller scale than Paris, and therefore much more relaxing. The city is more friendly, but not without a snag here or there; we were quite surprised to be told that ATMs in Belgium are few and far between, so our normal method of obtaining the local currency would not work here. Fortunately, we had on hand a few US $100.00 bills (universally accepted currency) for just such an eventuality and there was an exchange window at the train station. This was certainly not what we expected in the home of the world's first stock market!

After a short walk from the station toward the water to our hotel, we ventured out into the Ould Stadt (Old City) of Antwerp. There's a massive cathedral, although only half as massive as it was once intended to be (more on that later) amidst a maze of winding streets and alleyways. There weren't too many people out for the evening, either Belgians or tourists, which may have been attributable to a dioxin scare (Belgian livestock were given tainted food). We bypassed the issue with a sumptuous mussel dinner, followed by an evening spent tasting various Trappist ales at a nearby and very friendly pub.

Our next day began at the Rockoxhuis, a museum which was once the home of Mr. Rockox, a former mayor of Antwerp and a friend of Antwerp's most famous son, Peter Paul Rubens. This small house contained a number of paintings and furnishings from that era. We then returned to the cathedral, the Onze Lieve Vrouwekathedraal, where we caught a guided tour in English that was very informative about the art and architecture of the cathedral. The highlights of the tour were two Rubens triptychs, The Raising of the Cross and The Descent from the Cross. The guide gave us a very informative lecture on the significance of the paintings in both the religious and artistic worlds. We also learned that the cathedral's façade is asymmetrical for a reason; at one point the whole thing was meant to be doubled, with a mirror image cathedral constructed right next to the current one. Alas, the funds set aside for this project were instead used to rebuild the church after a fire.

We couldn't leave Belgium without sampling some waffles, so our last stop in town was a sidewalk café serving a delicious whipped cream and chocolate creation that may, in fact, have actually had a waffle (or two!) hidden within it. If lunch was was to be chocolate and whipped cream, what should dessert be? Beer, of course! After lingering over a couple of local brews, we hit a small snag; while the café had a MasterCard/Visa sign posted, their machine was not actually working, and we had not enough Belgian currency to pay for our meal. The café's owner also turned out to be the only man in Antwerp who didn't speak English. Eventually we arrived at a solution involving a US twenty dollar bill, and we were able to take our leave of Antwerp, and Belgium, and get on our way to Amsterdam.